


i can't hold it together, not without you

by inlovewithimpossibility



Series: Snapshots [2]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Episode: s06e14 Collision Course, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-09
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2019-06-24 10:14:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15628512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inlovewithimpossibility/pseuds/inlovewithimpossibility
Summary: 6x14 AU: When NTA's plan to hack John's bio stimulant goes south because Curtis' upgrades have made it impossible, they take a similar approach with a similar chip, the one without Curtis' updates. Oliver deals with the people he considered teammates rendering his wife immobile and when Rene still manages to get a shot at her later, our man is out for blood(Yes, I know this has been done before and probably done better, but I wanted a go)





	i can't hold it together, not without you

**Author's Note:**

> 'Snapshots' is a series detailing missing or AU moments from Arrow so let me know any prompts you have in the comments or at my tumblr (girlsthatwewannakiss.tumblr.com)

“I… I can’t hack it. My tech’s too good, the improvements I made. I can’t hack it.” Curtis huffs as his fingers fly rapidly across the keys and Dinah and Rene both swear.

“What are we gonna do?” Rene asks, the anger growing in him.

“You really can’t get through? We’re running out of time.” Dinah asks frantically and Curtis shakes his head.

“I can’t. the protection around it, it’s too strong. I improved it too well when I made the changes to John’s chip.” Curtis explains and Dinah groans, throwing her staff to the floor.

“But John’s chip isn’t the only one in there….” Rene smirks, lighting up a little and Curtis frowns before shaking his head as he catches on.

“No, no, that’s crossing a line. That chip makes her walk Rene, we’re not talking about an arm here. We’re talking about her ability to move.” Curtis retaliates.

“And Felicity is one person in a city of half a million people whose lives will be ruined without that money. We need to get to them.” Dinah tells him and Curtis takes a deep breath.

“And Felicity’s chip is older, without your new updates. You should be able to get into it.” Rene tells him and Curtis bites the inside of his cheek.

“I just… this feels wrong.” He tells them and Rene scoffs.

“She hacked into our bunker earlier Curtis, she’s hardly a civilian herself!” Rene reminds him and it’s that reminder of Felicity’s betrayal of his trust that sets him off to work, whispering an apology into the air.

 

* * *

 

 

“You have a one-way ticket to the father-daughter trip of a lifetime,” Felicity smirks over at Black Siren who merely glares back.  

“Just keep that vengeful bird of yours from finding me.” She replies and Felicity hums, looking back at her tablet.

Suddenly, pain shoots up her back and she cries out, curling up as she tries to get it to lessen but it just makes it worse and she screams.

“Felicity! Felicity, baby!” Oliver’s worried voice calls out and his strong arms fly around her, obviously looking for evidence of her pain.

Her tablet starts to alarm and she feels someone take it out of her hand before John’s voice sounds. “Someone’s hacked her biostimulant, they’re using it to broadcast our location.”

“Curtis.” Oliver and Thea growl at almost the exact same time and if Felicity wasn’t in so much pain, she’d probably make a comment about the similarities between the Queen siblings.

“We don’t have long, they’re on their way,” John tells them and Quentin groans.

“I’m sorry but with the other team that angry, that close, I can’t protect Laurel by myself.” He gestures towards the injured Black Siren and John nods.

“You won’t have to.” He reassures after sharing a glance with Oliver.

“You’re going to fight your old team? This is ridiculous.” Thea gasps and Oliver tells her to be quiet as Felicity whimpers loudly, still in obvious pain.

“Hey, hey, hey, it’s okay. I’ve got you.” He tells her and strokes her hair back from her head. The other night he commented how he loves when she wears it down around her head and he’s noticed since then that it is less frequently in her signature ponytail.

“Hurts…” She whimpers and his heart aches to see his wife, his sunshine, in so much pain. Even in the hospital after the accident, she was so doped up on painkillers that she hadn’t felt any of it. This? This is unbearable for him to watch.

“I know baby, I’m so sorry I can’t do anything to help. Think of something else. Were those cookies you and William made actually edible?” He smirks and she smiles a little, rolling her eyes.

“Yes thank you very much, although I will admit your son did most of the process. Only because you have him convinced that I’m an invalid in the kitchen. Okay, bad choice of words in the situa… ah! Ah!” Her ramble is cut off by another cry of pain and he lets her squeeze his hand through it even though he wasn’t aware his wife even had that sort of grip.

“You’re okay, you’re okay. Alright, we need to get you to a hospital. We’ve gotta move.” He tells them all and everyone scrambles to either change or collect the few things left lying around.

“Why’s she still in pain? When the circuit fried in the bunker last year…” John asks and then the tablet in his hands pinged again at exactly the same time as Felicity cries out harrowingly again.

“Because it’s continually being hacked.” Thea gestures. “They’re trying to keep an updated location in case we move.”

“Anybody but the person currently writhing on the floor know how to code in here?” John asks and Laurel and Quentin both shrug at him.

“Gimme.” Felicity groans, reaching up towards the tablet like it’s a toy and she’s a toddler.

“Honey…” Oliver warns but she glares at him.

“I can cut the signal. Just give me two minutes.” She tells them and Oliver sighs in admission, gesturing to John for him to hand the piece of tech over.

“I’m not happy about this.” He tells her and she smirks.

“Well, no surprises there th… ah! Son of a bitch! Once wasn’t enough?” She growls and she waves off Oliver’s attempt at comfort as her fingers fly across her tablet.

Oliver for his part changes into his Green Arrow suit the quickest John has ever seen him do it and is back at his wife’s side, hovering over her like a mama bear in what appears like seconds.

“And done! And my chip is back online, although it won’t be fully activated for a couple of hours, meaning…” She trails off, looking up at her husband with apologetic eyes.

“You still can’t walk.” Thea chimes in and Felicity smiles at her.

“The point goes to my favorite sister-in-law.” She winks and Thea laughs, heading over towards her.

“I’m your only sister-in-law.” The younger girl chuckles and Felicity shrugs.

“Point still stands.” She smiles and Thea chuckles.

“I’ll carry her. I get the feeling you and Digg are both gonna need full use of your arms.” Thea tells them and Oliver sends a terrified look his wife’s way.

“I’ll be fine.” She tells him and he bites the inside of his cheek, squatting so that he’s in line with her.

“I just… I have nightmares about this sort of thing. If… if anything ever happened to you….” He trails off and John and Thea avert their eyes as Felicity reaches up to stroke his face. He’s entered what Thea refers to as his ‘Felicity Mode’, obviously only when he’s not there, which is when he can’t really concentrate on anything but her.

“I know. I’ll be fine, I trust Thea with my life, literally, I guess.” She chuckles and he glares at her mockingly but she merely smiles, running her thumb over his cheekbone. “I love you.”

“I love you so much.” He sighs and turns to kiss the inside of her wrist before he brings their lips together. It looks like it physically pains him to step away from her but he does and turns to his sister, pressing a gun into her hand. “Keep her safe and stay safe yourself.”

“Always big bro.” She winks and spins the gun into her belt.

There’s a screech of tires outside and they all share a look.

“They’re here,” Quentin comments unnecessarily and they all look towards the door.

“You four head out the back door. Digg and I will hold them off as long as possible.” Oliver tells them and Quentin and Black Siren are out of there like a shot. Thea and Felicity take a while, Thea’s strong but their relatively similar height means that she has a bit of a struggle getting Felicity onto her back. Once she’s there though, she seems pretty secure and Oliver doesn’t take his eyes off of her until they’re through the door and heading towards the van.

“You ready?” John asks and Oliver takes a deep breath.

“They just rendered my wife immobile for the third time in her life, I hope _they’re_ fucking ready,” Oliver growls and John nods as the two of them head out the front door to meet their old team.

“What the hell were you thinking? You just seriously hurt a civilian!” John yells at the sight of them and they somehow form two lines, facing each other. The others have looped around the house and are making their way to the cars but Dinah sees red at the sight of Laurel and takes a step forward.

“Just like you guys are gonna seriously hurt the city if you let her go!” Curtis yells, jabbing his finger in Black Siren’s direction.

“Not another step Dinah, I swear,” Oliver growls, barely holding in his anger.

“Felicity’s not a civilian Hoss, she’s just as guilty as the rest of us.” Rene retaliates to John’s accusation and both John and Oliver growl.

“You took away my wife’s use of her legs. Nobody touches _my_ family and gets away with it.” Oliver yells as Dinah takes another step forward and they descend into battle.

Oliver’s first arrow hits Rene and Dinah reacts immediately, screaming and sending both John and Oliver flying back a few feet.

“Get to the car!” Oliver yells when he notices the others stood there watching.

Curtis’ T-spheres circle around his head and Oliver shoots them down, deciding if he’s going to be a coward that he’s not going to let him have the chance to build up his courage. John takes on Dinah as best as he can, their similar fighting styles meaning that they match up well, which used to be an advantage in the training room and now means they’ll most likely exhaust each other.

The problem is that this leaves Rene uncovered and he stalks towards where the others are trying to get to the cars. He can’t get a free shot around Thea and Felicity and Felicity realizes this.

“Step out and then step back to this exact spot.” She tells Thea who frowns.

“Felicity, Ollie told me to get to you to the car…” She trails off but Felicity insists.

“Come on please, just do it. We can save Laurel this way.” She tells her and Thea sighs, taking a large step back and jumping back to the same spot just as Rene sets off his gun. Felicity groans as it grazes her side and Thea mutters under her breath that her brother is actually going to kill her.

“Are you crazy?” Rene calls to the two of them and Felicity glares.

“Yeah, I must be! Yeah!” Felicity responds and Thea turns to Quentin and Black Siren.

“Run!”

They take off and Thea rushes to the van, opening the doors and sliding Felicity into the back.

“Are you okay?” She asks, moving her sister-in-law’s coat out of the way and lifting up her sweater. “Crap.” She groans at the sight of blood. Luckily the bullet seems to have only nicked her but Thea knows it’s going to drive Oliver doubly crazy. His wife’s already been targeted tonight and to have a bullet graze added to that is not going to help his worrying about her. Thea wonders whether he’ll let her out of his sight for the next week.

“I’m fine.” Felicity grits her teeth and Thea knows she’s not but plays along anyway.

“We’re going to have to let John stitch this up.” She tells her and Felicity groans, leaning her head on Thea’s shoulder.

“Needles.” She pouts and Thea chuckles, kissing her head.

“I know, I know. Hey, stay with me. Can you tell me about these cookies you and William made?” She asks and Felicity laughs.

“You and Oliver have very similar distraction techniques.”

 

* * *

 

 

It takes around five minutes for Oliver and John to find them and Oliver is on Felicity like a dart, pressing his own hands to the gauze she’s holding over her wound.

“What happened?” He growls through his teeth and Thea winces.

“Rene,” Thea tells her and Oliver looks ready to turn around and follow their old teammate.

“Whoa man, he’s already gonna need surgery,” John tells him and Oliver glares at him. John sighs and softens his expression. “She needs you.” He tells his old boss quietly and Oliver relaxes a little, taking his sister’s place at his wife’s side.

“Thea, can you drive us to Starling General?” He asks, knowing that he needs to be here if there’s going to be needles involved.

“On it.” She tells him and kisses Felicity’s forehead before she hops into the front of the van.

“Keep it steady Speedy,” John tells her as he grabs his first aid kit.

“You got it, boss.” She smiles and starts the engine, going as fast as she can without jostling too much down the country roads.

Felicity immediately whimpers at the sight of the needle and cuddles back into Oliver’s arms.

“Hey, hey, hey, look at me. Everything’s okay. I’ve got you.” He tells her and she turns her terrified eyes on his schooled ones. His hand comes up to her cheek and she nuzzles into it. Oliver stares down at her, noting just how small she looks whenever he does this. He can’t believe his old team. They all know that if there’s one thing that’s off limits, it’s family and they’ve almost compromised that numerous times in the past few weeks. Rene was willing to testify to him being the Green Arrow, quite possibly resulting in him being taken away from William when Rene has a child of a similar age and knows how much pain that would cause. Now, Curtis hacks Felicity’s chip so that Dinah can get revenge on a woman who is their only hope for restoring the city at that precise moment and in the same night, Rene fires a gun that grazes his wife’s side, meaning that his best friend has to continuously put a needle through her perfect skin.

And now his Felicity, his wife, his light, his _everything,_ is cowering in pain for the second time tonight and it’s taking everything in him not to jump out of this moving van, find Rene and kill him where he stands. She buries her head in his chest and he holds her tightly, whispering to her that everything’s going to be alright.

“If she doesn’t stop flinching dude, I’m gonna do this wrong,” John tells him and Oliver nods, coaxing her head out of his chest so that she’ll look at him.

“It’s okay.” He tells her and then leans down, bringing their lips together. She finally relaxes and her only movement is into him a little. Oliver feels bad that all of his energy isn’t concentrated on kissing her as it should be but he opens an eye, watching as John finishes the job before they separate, both of them breathing a little heavily.

“That’s one technique.” She tells him and Oliver laughs, pulling her carefully into his arms and reveling in it as she curls up onto his chest, nuzzling his collarbone like a cat. John cleans up and wipes away the blood from her side before pulling down her shirt and rubbing her arm.

“You’re all done.” John smiles and Felicity smiles up at him.

“Thank you, John, sorry for being a bad patient.” She pouts and he chuckles, sitting up on the bench at the side of the van.

“Never.” He winks at her and she giggles, turning back into her husband’s chest.

“Hey! I can feel my toes again!” She grins and just like that, with her eyes lighting up and her teeth flashing towards him, Oliver feels about ten tonnes lighter. Doesn’t mean he wants to kill Rene, Dinah, and Curtis any less though.

 

* * *

 

 

Oliver cannot believe his eyes when he spots the two figures walk into the mayor’s corridor later on that evening just as he’d stepped out to call his son.

“Oh, you two have some nerve.” He growls, looking at Dinah and Curtis, the latter of whom at least has the decency to look a little ashamed.

“We just want to know that she’s okay,” Dinah tells him with what seems like the first level head she’s had in weeks.

“You lost that right when you decided it was okay to hack into the thing that allows her to walk.” He growls and they both take a step back, intimidated by the fire in his eyes.

“Okay, let’s all just calm down.” Curtis tries and Oliver growls again.

“I will not calm down. You are lucky I am not putting an arrow through you both right now. I have one last thing to say to you and you can relay it back to Ramirez as well. If I _ever_ see any of you anywhere near my family _ever_ again, I will not hesitate and you can join your late loved ones in the grave. My family is off limits, it always has been. Get out of my city.” He tells them both and they share a look.

“Oliver…” Curtis tries and Oliver glares.

“Now!” He yells and Dinah lets out a huff, pulling the tall man back down the corridor.

Oliver watches them go and contemplates that he’s going to have to tell his son that Felicity’s in the hospital. Felicity, perhaps his son’s favorite person.

It takes everything in him not to shoot an arrow at their moving backs.


End file.
